Ryan and Redmond O’Neal hit with felony charges

By Alexandra Heilbron on October 17, 2008 | 9 Comments


redmond_ryan.jpgRyan O’Neal, 67, and his son Redmond, 23, were officially charged with felony drug possession on Wednesday. Specifically, Ryan has been charged with one felony count of possession of methamphetamine, while Redmond, whose mother is Farrah Fawcett, is also charged with meth possession and two misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia. The court papers also state that Redmond “did unlawfully and knowingly sell, offer for sale, possess and transport tear gas and a tear gas weapon.” The father and son team were arrested at Ryan’s Malibu home last month after narcotics were discovered during a routine probation check. They’re due in court on November 13 to enter pleas. Redmond, who has battled drugs since his early teens, was sent to a two-week treatment program earlier this month. The maximum sentence for felony drug possession is three years in prison, but according to a Los Angeles Country District Attorney spokesperson, it’s unlikely either O’Neal will spend any time in jail. This is Ryan’s first drug arrest, although his Oscar-winning daughter Tatum O’Neal, who also has drug problems, stated in her autobiography, A Paper Life, that her father has used drugs for years and encouraged her to use them when she was a teen.



Comments & Discussion

  1. tributegirl • October 17, 2008 @ 9:21 AM

    I really hope they get treated like anybody else facing these same charges. Can you imagine any parent ENCOURAGING their teenage child to try drugs? This guy is more than a loser, he’s a complete a$$h0le!!! And I don’t think two weeks in a treatment centre is enough for a young man who has had drug problems for 9 or 10 years.

  2. Minerva • October 17, 2008 @ 10:05 AM

    I’m really disappointed in Ryan, I always thought he was a decent kinda guy. It doesn’t matter that it’s his first offense, it only means he wasn’t caught before now. He should be dealt with very severely for influencing minors. I can’t imagine anyone so plain stupid and uncaring as a parent as to get their very own children involved in hard drugs. Is Farrah Fawcett innocent in all of this? Not likely, because where was their mother while all this was going on?

  3. My own opinion • October 17, 2008 @ 10:26 AM

    It certainly does sound incredibly stupid and uncaring that a parent would influence their child to do drugs, but I don’t know if it really is that hard to understand. There are several famous cases of this happening amongst celebrities (John and Mackenzie Phillips, Robert Downey and Robert Downey Jr.), so it is probably happening throughout society.

    A person taking drugs generally believes it is “all right” to do it, otherwise they would not have begun in the first place. (That is the interesting thing about the argument that it is an addiction — although I don’t disagree that you lose control through addiction, you needed to make the decision to try the drug in the first place. Is it the addiction itself that makes you try it, or is it the addiction that makes you continue?) If the person is not morally opposed to drugs in the first place (and presumably would not be if he/she is taking them), then would it be that unusual to introduce it to your children?

    The surprising thing to me is that if these cases are addictions (and I don’t believe that all drug use is because of an addiction, some is a choice), these people are educated and wealthy enough to get help for it (even if it may not be easy). These are not members of marginalized society who do not have easy access to treatment, or financial and social support to get through it. I think that that is the real reason these people should be criticized: not because they may have an addiction, or that it is propagated through their families, because that is what happens in all society; it is because they are in the best position of all society to help themselves and others, but as celebrities they are too egotistic and out of touch with reality to help themselves or let others help them. And all the people surrounding them also will not do anything to help them. You are right to ask, where WAS Farrah through all this? Did she do what she could to help.

    Just more and more cases of Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears. Perhaps feel sorry for the issues they have, but don’t feel sorry for their own unwillingness to fix the problem, or for their families and friends who ride on their coattails to do something about it. They have the wealth to make a damn good try at fixing their problems.

  4. The Cosmos Rocks=Bombastic!! • October 17, 2008 @ 11:31 AM

    «Sad news.

  5. Alex • October 17, 2008 @ 11:49 AM

    I remember reading several years ago that Farrah tried to stick Redmond in rehab before (this when he was in his mid-teens), but Ryan checked him out. And since he’s the father, she basically had no power to overrule him.

  6. Mary • October 17, 2008 @ 3:09 PM

    Never did care for Ryan always struck me as a conceited ass. What a father figure he turned out to be.He deserves jail time along with his son. Can’t imagine wanting to encourage my children to take drugs. What a friggin low life. He deserves to be thrown in jail. I hope his son at least gets some meaningful help so he can get on with his life. Why can’t people just say no to drugs?

  7. jd • October 17, 2008 @ 4:48 PM

    Whoa, some of these Hollywood families are just so screwed up! It’s really unfortunate how they so easily become slaves to drugs.
    Sad, and really pathetic.

  8. Nancy • October 19, 2008 @ 5:00 PM

    Well, you know, it all depends on their circumstances. I mean for example, say they live with….ohhh….Jo-Anne for instance, need I say more? In THAT case, I would completely understand why they would be all jacked up on Meth and anything else they could possibly consume and have themselves armed with pepper spray…no telling what she’s capable of!!

    BAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

  9. tributegirl • October 20, 2008 @ 3:09 PM

    Who wouldn’t!!!!!


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